Trump Sat Down With Time Magazine and Then Threatened a Reporter With Prison

Time magazine was supposed to have an innocent little sit down with President Trump, but of course nothing involving the overlord of the White House can be innocent or easy or not involve the president threatening a Time reporter with prison. Suggested Reading Ryan Coogler, Cynthia Erivo and More Reveal Their Favorite Movies of All…

Time magazine was supposed to have an innocent little sit down with President Trump, but of course nothing involving the overlord of the White House can be innocent or easy or not involve the president threatening a Time reporter with prison.

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According to CNN, during the interview with a team of reporters from Time magazine inside the Oval Office on Monday, Trump reportedly showed reporters a letter that he claimed was written by his new BFF and possible 2020 running mate Kim Jong Un.

The news only got to the masses on Thursday after Time published the interview transcription.

According to the transcript, in typical Trump fashion, the president was reportedly boasting about how the letter was written by the North Korean leader. โ€œIt was delivered to me yesterday. By hand,โ€ he said and then asked to go off the record probably so he could praise their relationship and talk about what he planned on getting him in return. Hint: Itโ€™s a Fabergรฉ egg made in the shape of Trumpโ€™s testicle.

A Time journalist, who Iโ€™m sure was all โ€œIโ€™m about to expose all this cuddling bullshit between these two dick-tators,โ€ attempted to take a photo of the letter and thatโ€™s when all hell broke loose.

Press secretary Sarah Sanders, who has reportedly startedย wearing sweatpants and a half shirt to work because she really doesnโ€™t give a shit anymore now that sheโ€™s announced sheโ€™s quitting, told the reporter, โ€œYou canโ€™t take a picture of that, sorry.โ€

From CNN:

Later in the interview, the Time team brought up the fact that Trump tried to โ€œlimit Muellerโ€™s Russia probe to only future election meddling.โ€ One of the reporters (the transcript doesnโ€™t say who) noted that Trump dictated a letter to a former aide, Corey Lewandowski, โ€œtelling him to tellโ€ former attorney general Jeff Sessions โ€œto limit the investigation.โ€ The details were included in former Special Counsel Robert Muellerโ€™s report.

The Time reporter said โ€œhe testified under oath under threat of prison time, that that was the case Mr. President.โ€ Trump, cornered, did what he usually does: He lashed out and brought up the other letter, the one he had shown off earlier, from North Koreaโ€™s dictator.

Quoting from the transcript:

TRUMP: โ€œExcuse me โ€” Under Section II โ€” Well, you can go to prison instead, because, if you use, if you use the photograph you took of the letter that I gave you โ€”โ€

TIME: โ€œDo you believe that people should be โ€”โ€

TRUMP: โ€œconfidentially, I didnโ€™t give it to you to take photographs of it โ€” So donโ€™t play that game with me. Let me just tell you something. You take a look โ€”โ€

TIME: โ€œIโ€™m sorry, Mr. President. Were you threatening me with prison time?โ€

Trump then did the thing he does best where heโ€™s simultaneously self-aggrandizing while being self-deprecating and hurt that he wasnโ€™t the person of the year.

โ€œWell,โ€ he said, โ€œI told you the following. I told you, you can look at this off-the-record. That doesnโ€™t mean you take out your camera and start taking pictures of it. O.K.? So I hope you donโ€™t have a picture of it. I know you were very quick to pull it outโ€”even you were surprised to see that. You canโ€™t do that stuff. So go have fun with your story. Because Iโ€™m sure it will be the 28th horrible story I have in TIME Magazine because I neverโ€”I meanโ€”ha. Itโ€™s incredible. With all Iโ€™ve done and the success Iโ€™ve had, the way that TIME Magazine writes is absolutely incredible,โ€ CNN reports.

Then the president continued his tangent about not being special. โ€œSome day within the next 20 years,โ€ he said, โ€œmaybe youโ€™ll pick me as Man of the Year. O.K., big deal.โ€ CNN notes that Trump was The โ€œPerson of the Yearโ€ in 2016 and he still ainโ€™t happy.

Donโ€™t worry, America, the inappropriate selfies of Kim Jong Un in states of undress included with the letter wonโ€™t ever see the light of day as Time wonโ€™t be publishing them since they were apart of the off-the-record conversation.

โ€œAt various points during the interview, the President asked to go off-the-record, and TIME is honoring those requests,โ€ a spokeswoman told CNN.

Straight From The Root

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